Husband, stepson freed in trooper’s death

CHEHALIS, Wash. – Despite an inquest naming them suspects, the husband and stepson of a slain former Washington state trooper are free after a brief appearance at Lewis County Superior Court.

The two men turned themselves in Friday after the county coroner issued an arrest warrant, but a judge freed them because the county prosecutor says there’s not enough evidence to charge them.

An inquest jury found Ronald A. Reynolds and Jonathan A. Reynolds responsible for the death of former trooper Ronda Reynolds earlier this month.

Ronda Reynolds’ death in 1998 had been initially ruled a suicide, but that finding was recently overturned to homicide by an inquest jury.

Their release ends the case against them unless new evidence is found, the Longview Daily News reported.